A Peaceful Doom
by GC-ElLoBoSoLo
Summary: With a great threat looming overhead, a young man must find a way to come to terms with his fate. Anthro one-shot.


**A/N: This is my first story. I've had it completed for a while, but I decided it was time to get it published. I hope you all enjoy it, and please review it because I would love to make my stories the best I can.**

It was a clear summer night in Sawtooth National Park. A light breeze was blowing, sending ripples through the grass of a small meadow. The full moon was slowly climbing towards the center of the sky, its white glow illuminating the world. The forest around the meadow was silent, not a thing seemed to move inside it. Yet, the sighing of the wind moving through the trees breathed a life from the forest. There was a magic in the air, a heavy peace that settled over the wood. A lone figure lay in the middle of the meadow, looking up to the heavens above. His sleek grey fur was turned silver by the moonlight, and his deep blue eyes seemed to hold the stars themselves. He was lying so still that he could have been carved out of stone, the only sign that he was alive being the slow movement of his chest as he took each breath. As the night dragged on, he stayed still, watching the stars traverse the celestial sphere. He appeared to be in a trance, caught up in the magic of the night, as if he was the personification of the peace that settled over the world. However, as peaceful as he seemed, his mind was a torrent of panic and confusion.

Humphrey's P.O.V.

I stared at what appeared to be a bright star, but I knew it for what it was. It was the image of the end, the thing that would destroy my home, my family, and my love. Looking up at it, it seemed so harmless, and the peace of the night cast the illusion that everything was okay. As much as I wished things were that way, I couldn't forget the words of the president.

 _ **Flashback**_

I was watching a movie on HBO with my family when the program was interrupted. The presidential seal appeared on the tv, and an announcer said that the President was about to give an emergency broadcast to the country. We watched in confusion, wondering what could happen that would give cause to the President sending out an emergency broadcast. Our attention was brought back to the screen as it cut to the Oval Office. President Maximus was sitting in his chair facing the camera. He was dressed in the normal black suit with a red tie, and his office looked completely normal, but it was obvious that something was horribly wrong. The President's eyes were tired and bloodshot, his normally dark black fur had many streaks of silver in it, and his face was creased with distress.

There was a slight pause before he spoke, and he began with a heavy voice full of sorrow. "Hello, my fellow Americans," he said. "There has been a discovery, made by NASA, of a comet entering the inner parts of our solar system. It has been measured, and is estimated to be as large as the state of Maine in diameter. It can be seen in the night sky just south of the constellation Aquarius. This comet's path has been calculated time and time again, and it has been found that it will make contact with Earth in one month's time. Now, understand that we aren't just sitting here and doing nothing. The U.N. has come to the conclusion that the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France, and China will collaborate on building a rocket that will attempt to blow the comet off course. We have already constructed the rocket, and the team has been assembled and are ready to begin the mission. In two day's time, the rocket will be launched, carrying the crew and an experimental weapon. This weapon, while experimental, has been tested and is known to work. It is the only weapon we have that will be powerful enough to knock the comet off course." He paused, looking down at his desk, and when he looked back up he had a little sparkle in his eye. "While we are doing everything in our power to avert this crisis, I implore you to remember that there is a chance it won't work. So spend time with your loved ones while you can. But I will tell you this, we have done amazing things before, and we can pull off a miracle here. So don't give up hope, we need it now more than ever before. One last thing before I go, the country has been placed on high alert. Any criminal activity will be punished severely. This is to ensure the safety of our citizens against those of you that would wish to lash out in your state of fear and panic. Violence will not be tolerated in this time of crisis. What we need is to bond together so that we may survive this ordeal, not relish in the prospect of doom. With that, I conclude this broadcast. May God be with us all."

When he finished speaking, the broadcast cut back to the President's seal, and then it cut back to the movie we had been watching. I grabbed the remote and turned off the television, and the room was cast into a deep silence. I was shocked, so shocked that I couldn't move, and I could sense the tension coming from my family as they digested what they had just heard. The realization of what this meant hit me like a train, and I couldn't hold back the tears as they started flowing. I turned to my mom and hugged her tightly, resting my muzzle on her shoulder as I sobbed. She held onto me for dear life, crying onto my shoulder twice as hard as I was. We held onto each other for many minutes, just letting our emotions out. After a few more minutes, we stopped sobbing, and then stopped crying altogether. We looked at each other's faces, seeing the raw emotions still sparkling in our eyes. All of a sudden, I felt an overwhelming desire to get outside. I started to hyperventilate, and I got up and rushed outside. When I got outside, and felt the wind in my hair, I couldn't stop. I continued to run into the forest, into seclusion, into a place where I felt free. I kept running until I was out of breath, and still I ran. I finally couldn't run anymore, and I dropped onto my back.

 _ **End Flashback**_

I had been laying in the meadow for a few hours now, watching the night slowly go by. I had been thinking hard, about how little time there was, and how I would live for this next month. There was so much that I had wanted to do, that I had wanted to see, that I wouldn't ever have the chance to do now. I had wanted to go to college and become an engineer, so that I could help solve the problems of the world. "If only I had been born sooner, so that I could have had the chance to go to college, and maybe even help the team that is trying to save us," I said to myself. With a sigh, I looked towards the moon. It was so beautiful, glowing brightly, and it helped to soothe my mind. I stared at it for a bit, and I slowly became enthralled by the magic it held. I felt my emotions build up in my chest, and I let them out in a howl. It was a slow, soft howl at first, but it slowly built in power and tempo. It flowed smoothly from my lips, carrying far into the night. It was filled with the sorrow I felt for our planet, the pain of knowing that there is no future. The pure despair of it filled my eyes with tears as I continued to let it out, to let it take over me. The hauntingly beautiful sound seemed to fill the world, disrupting the peaceful spell of the woods. When it finally ceased, I felt a pressure lift off of my chest. Having let all of my sadness and pain leave me with that howl, I realized just how weary I had become from my frantic running. I lay my head back down on the grass of the meadow, and I let myself drift off into the peaceful embrace of sleep.

I opened my eyes to see that the moon was halfway between the highest part of the sky and the western horizon. "I must have only slept for a few hours," I thought to myself. I looked back at the moon, and I again felt the magic of it wash over me. The feeling reminded me of the emotion-filled howl I had let out earlier, and I found myself thanking the moon for letting me let go of all my pain. As I continued to stare at the moon, I heard a sound come from a ways to the south of me. I slowly stood up and, wondering what was making the sound, I started to walk in its direction. As I was walking, the sound grew louder, and I realized that it was a howl somewhat similar to mine. I could feel the distress in it, a pain as sharp as what I had been feeling only hours before. The sound of it made my fur stand on end, as if electricity was running through the air. The closer I got to the sound, the more I realized I knew the voice of the one howling. With the realization of who was howling, I felt my heart grow heavy. This was the one person I had never wanted to feel pain, and yet that person was in just as much pain as I had been. I began to run towards the sound, wanting nothing but to take that pain away.

I came across another clearing before long, and I could tell immediately that this was where the howl was coming from. When I came to the edge of the trees, I stopped in my tracks, captivated by the scene I saw before me. In the middle of the clearing stood a girl with yellow fur and long, golden head fur. She was wearing a long, white sleeping gown, which blew magically around her in the breeze. Her head was tilted back, muzzle to the sky, and the howl on her lips filled the air. The ambiance of the clearing was so hauntingly beautiful that tears began to fall from my face, and the power of the moon drew me back into its trance. As I lifted my own muzzle to the sky, I felt a new, stronger emotion build in me. It was hope. It filled my body, energizing everything from my ears to the tip of my tail. It fueled the passion that I felt in my heart, and it gave a new, powerful strength to the love I felt for the girl in the clearing. As this raw, powerful emotion filled me, I released it into the air in a howl. The howl told of the beauty I saw in the girl, of the burning passion and uncontrollable love I felt towards her. It rang with the note of hope, it spoke of how things would be okay. It was the most honest, powerful feeling I had ever felt before in my life, and I let it all out for the world to hear. As it slowly died away, I brought my head down and looked back at the girl in the clearing. She was standing there, staring at me as though transfixed, her glowing amber eyes wet with tears. She began sobbing softly, but the smile on her face told me that she was crying in happiness. I started walking over to her, until I was standing right in front of her. I looked deeply into her eyes, relishing in the radiant beauty they held. Slowly, as if pulled by some magical force, we drew closer together, until we were inches apart. No longer able to keep myself from her, I brought her into a hug. As I gently pulled her close, she she wrapped her arms tightly around me. Feeling her in my arms, clinging tightly to me, I realized just how much I needed her with me. "I love you, Kate," I whispered into her ear. That made her sob harder, and she squeezed me as tight as she could. This made me smile, and I knew from that moment that as long as she was with me, I would be okay - we would be okay.

The mission to knock the comet off course was a failure. The experimental weapon malfunctioned just before the shuttle it was carried on got in position. The resulting explosion was large enough to push the comet a bit, but it hadn't been enough to derail the comet from its path to Earth. After the failure of the mission, countries erupted into chaos, governments were overthrown, and it seemed as if everyone had lost their minds in the face of the impending doom. However, Kate and Humphrey had been spending everyday together since the news of the comet was first released. Expecting the disaster that panic would bring, they moved out of town with their families to spend their final days at a cabin high up in the Sawtooth Mountains. They had been devastated at the news of the mission's failure, of course, but they all knew that they had made the most of their remaining time before impact. On the day the comet struck, they sat on the mountainside by the cabin and watched as the comet approached. When the white streak of it finally hit the atmosphere, a blinding white light appeared on the horizon, and a strong wind started blowing from the source of it. Humphrey and Kate locked eyes and grabbed each other's hand, waiting for the end. Despite having the knowledge that they were both about to die, they were both calm, and they knew that even though they were going to die, their love for each other would go past this physical world. They continued to stare into each other's eyes, wanting nothing more than for their last moments on Earth to be spent looking at the beauty of the one's they loved.

 **A/N: I hope you all liked it, and if you have any tips for me I would love to hear them! I have several ideas for stories but due to a recent move I haven't gotten around to making them yet, so keep an eye out for new stories from me if you like my work. Hope you all have a wonderful day!**


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